System and method for controlling display windows

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for opening and managing a window on a client computer system. In response to an action by the user transferring user information from the client to a server, code executes in the browser of the client to open and immediately hide a window on the client display, to generate a control cookie name, and to provide the cookie name to both the server and to the window code. The server subsequently determines whether the opened window will be displayed to the user or will be closed. The server creates a control cookie having the created cookie name and having a value that is either an identification of the content to be displayed in the window or an instruction to close the window. Code executing in the browser of the client interprets the cookie and takes the appropriate action.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the opening and controlling of windows displayed to a computer user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most computer users who access World Wide Web sites are very familiar with pop-up windows. As typically implemented, a pop-up is a relatively small window that appears, or “pops up,” on top of the existing text or images on the user display. Pop-up windows can be broadly categorized as being either requested or unrequested. A requested window is created in direct response to a user input, such as a mouse click. An unrequested window is created in a manner that is not in direct response to a user action.

On the Web, unrequested pop-up windows are widely used for displaying advertising and promotional content. Because many computer users find unrequested promotional material to be intrusive, distracting, and irritating, a number of third-party computer programs designed to block unrequested windows have been developed and are commercially available from various vendors. In addition, the vendors of popular computer browsers, such as Microsoft and Netscape, incorporate unrequested-window-blocking capabilities into the latest versions of their browser products. These blocking products vary in their design and features, but they typically attempt to block unrequested windows by either blocking the execution of code that would open the window, or by detecting that an unrequested window has been opened and immediately causing it to be closed.

Because they typically block all unrequested windows indiscriminately, blocking programs pose a particular problem for Web enterprises that have designed their sites and their user experience to incorporate and take advantage of this type of window. For example, a web site might need to display pop-up information to a particular user, when that information is not known at the time of the user's initial action, but becomes known later based on the outcome of processing of data supplied by the user. For example, a site that requires users to have a member account and to log in when accessing the site may wish to display a pop-up window with additional user-specific information, but only to certain users who have successfully logged in. Only after the server has received and processed the user's login information will the requirement for and content of the pop-up window be known. As another example, on an e-commerce site, the operator of the site may wish to show a pop-up window only to customers whose credit card information is successfully processed, or only to customers in a certain geographic region, or who used a certain method of payment, or who are otherwise determined to meet one or more criteria established by the operator of the site. Only after the user's billing information has been successfully processed can the site determine the need for and content of the information to be displayed. Because these types of pop-up windows have typically been opened at the direction and discretion of the site operator, and not opened in direct response to an action of the user, typical blocking programs assume they are of no value to the user and they are blocked.

Web enterprises may have spent considerable time and resources designing their sites and their user experience to incorporate and take advantage of so-called unrequested pop-up windows as a part of their normal site flow and process. Blockers of unrequested windows interfere with the normal operation of these sites, and users will not experience the site in the manner it was intended by the site operator. The user may never see important or useful information that the site operator intended to present. There is, therefore, a clear need for a system and method by which a site operator can, without relying on the use of unrequested windows, delay the decision of whether or not to show a window to a particular individual, and delay the selection of the specific content to be displayed to a particular individual.

SUMMARY

The present invention uses a requested window to simulate the behavior of an unrequested window, thereby preventing the window from being blocked by a popup blocker. The present invention allows a site operator to avoid the use of windows that would be identified as being unrequested, yet still delay the decision of whether to show a window to a user, and delay the selection of the specific content that will be displayed to the client in the window.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a requested window is opened on the client display in response to a user action and then hidden (minimized). The programming code running within the window then waits for a signal, which will eventually arrive via a browser cookie termed the “control cookie.” If the control cookie is detected by the window, and the content of the cookie is a URL (uniform resource locator), the window becomes unhidden (maximized) to make it visible to the user of the client computer, and the content from the URL specified in the cookie is displayed in the window. The visual effect of this action simulates an unrequested window. If the cookie has other designated content, or is not detected within a specific period of time, other actions may be taken, such as closing the window.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a server receives the name of a control cookie from the client computer. The server creates a control cookie having the received name, giving the cookie a designated value. The creation of this cookie acts as a signal to the hidden, requested window to take an action. The value of the cookie describes the action to be taken, for example, to display predetermined text and images in the window, to display the contents of a given URL in the window, or to close the window.

These and other aspects, features, and benefits of the invention will be understood from a reading of the following description with reference to the attached figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a networked computing environment in which the invention can be employed.

FIGS. 2A-2E are representations of displays presented to a user of client computer 110.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method of controlling a window.

DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a representative group of computer systems capable of communicating via a network is depicted. In the embodiment discussed below, client system 110 is a typically equipped and configured personal computer running a commercially available browser program 112, such as Microsoft Explorer, and connected to a network 120, such as the World Wide Web, which allows client 110 to send requests to and receive information from a plurality of server systems. Client 110 could also be a portable computer, tablet computer, or any other system that is capable of running a browser program, has a display screen or other device for displaying to the user information received from a remote server, and has one or more devices, such as a mouse or keyboard, for receiving inputs from the user of the system.

In the embodiment discussed herein, server 130 is providing the Web presence of an e-commerce company, but the invention is not so limited. Server 130 makes available Web page content and tools that allow client computers, such as client 110, to access server 130 to receive and view Web pages and to exchange data and commands with server 130. In this manner, for example, the user of client 110 can select and place an order electronically for products and/or services offered by the operator of server 130. While server 130 is represented as a single block, it will be understood that it could be comprised of multiple servers, data storage systems, and related systems operating cooperatively. In addition to communicating and interacting with clients, server 130 can communicate with other server systems, such as servers 140 and 150, connected to network 120. As will be discussed in more detail below, server 130 includes special purpose software modules maker 132, listener 134, and notifier 136.

FIGS. 2A-2E show representations of information displayed to the user of client 110 on display device 200. Display 200 provides a main window 210, such as a typical web browser, for displaying Web pages and other content. The term “page” is used herein to refer collectively to Web content provided by a server for displaying to the user in a window. It will be understood that FIGS. 2A-2E are simplified for clarity of presentation. Detailed page content is not shown, and pages are identified by a capital letter appearing in the lower right corner.

In the disclosed embodiment, a window on client 110 will be “hidden” and “unhidden.” This action may be accomplished in various ways, but for the purposes of this discussion, it is assumed that client 110 is running an operating system, such as the Microsoft Windows operating system, that displays a task bar 220. As is well understood, the task bar provides a visual indication to the user of programs currently running on the client system by displaying a task bar button for each separate program instance. When a window is hidden (minimized), it disappears from main display 200, but a task bar button such as 224 representing that window remains in task bar 220. In FIGS. 2A-2E, the task bar button that is associated with the currently active window is indicated by a bold border. In the example shown in FIG. 2A, browser 112 is the only currently active program and the user is currently viewing page A in display area 210. This is indicated by button 222, labeled “A” in FIG. 2A, being the only button displayed on task bar 220. The information presented to a user of client 110 on display 200 would typically include additional indicators, tool bars, and controls, not shown, displayed above, below, and/or to the sides of main window 210.

For the purposes of discussion, page A will represent a billing page of an e-commerce Web site, but it will be understood that the invention is not so limited and could be readily employed in a variety of circumstances. In FIG. 2A, the content of page A displayed to the user includes control 212, selectable by the user to initiate the purchase process. Control 212 could be represented to the user in various known ways, such as a button labeled “Submit” or as an image or a text hyperlink. Page A also displays one or more selection tools and/or data entry fields for user-supplied information, collectively depicted as information block 214. In the example of a billing page, the information entered by the user in block 214 would typically include the user's name and credit card details, but in other applications could be a user name and password, one or more menu choices or other selections, or any number of other items. When control 212 is activated by the user, such as by a mouse click or keyboard entry, the page A code will cause the user-supplied information from block 214 to be transmitted to server 130 for processing.

The specific content to be displayed next to the user is dependent on the outcome of server 130 processing of some or all of the information supplied by the user. Server 130 will first examine the received information to check for obvious errors by the user, such as the failure to complete all required data fields in information block 214. If user errors in information block 214 are detected, page A will be redisplayed to the user along with an appropriate notification to the user that additional or corrected information is required. After this initial check, additional processing may be performed by server 130 or, in some cases, processing by other servers may also be involved. For example, most e-commerce sites do not directly deal with credit card companies but, instead, have a contractual relationship with another company that specializes in providing payment processing services. In this situation, server 130 will receive the credit card information from client 110 and forward it to a remote payment processing server 140. The operator of server 140 would, in turn, interact as necessary with the computer systems of the appropriate credit card issuer and, in due course, send a response back to server 130 indicating whether the requested credit card transaction was or was not successfully processed.

Depending on the response from payment processor 140, server 130 will send either a “transaction failed” page or a “transaction successful” page. At the time that server 130 sends the appropriate page back to client 112, the operator of server 130 may also wish to display additional information in a pop-up window to customers whose credit card transaction was successfully processed. The site operator may wish to display the window to all customers whose transaction was successfully processed or to only a subset of customers, such as, for example, special instructions, information, or offers only to those customers that ordered a particular product, that are having the product shipped to a particular geographical region or via a particular carrier, or that made the purchase using a particular type of credit card.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-2E and FIG. 3, an illustrative embodiment and application of the current invention will be discussed. In summary, when server 130 transmits the Page A code to client 110, server 130 also transmits maker code 132 and listener code 134. Maker code 132 includes (a) pop-up window activation code that responds to the user's activation of control 212 by opening a requested pop-up window, (b) cookie name generation code that responds to the user's initiation of the purchase process by generating a control cookie name, and (c) code that provides the generated cookie name to both server 130 and to the pop-up window code. An example of one embodiment of the maker code in the JavaScript and HTML languages is shown in Table 1. TABLE 1 Maker code example © 2004 VistaPrint // A function to produce the requested popup window function preparePopupWindow( ) { // Generate a unique cookie name var signalCookie = uniqueCookieName ( ); // Set the URL of the original, blank popup window var prePopupURL = ‘mypopup.aspx?signalCookie=’ + signalCookie; // Prepare to pass the cookie name to other pages // when the Submit button is clicked. document.getElementById(‘signalCookie’) .setAttribute(‘value’, signalCookie); // Create the blank popup window var w = window.open(prePopupURL, ‘_blank’) // Hide or minimize the popup window w.blur( ); window.focus ( ); } . . . <!-- This HTML fragment attaches the above JavaScript code to the Submit button. --> <form> <input ID=“signalCookie” name=“signalCookie” type=“hidden”> <input type=“submit” onclick=“preparePopupWindow( );”> </form>

Listener code 134 executes with the pop-up window code to repetitively poll for the availability of a cookie having the received control cookie name and, when the control cookie is detected, take the desired action: maximize the window and display the content specified by the URL contained in the control cookie, or close the window. Listener code 134 also includes timeout code that closes window 230 if the control cookie is not detected within a specified timeout period. An example of one embodiment of the listener code in the JavaScript language is shown in Table 2. TABLE 2 Listener code example © 2004 VistaPrint // Timer variable for the 1-second polling interval var pollingTimer; // Timer variable for the 60-second window timeout var dieTimer; // Function to enable the 60-second timeout function prepareTermination( ) { // Set the 60-second timer dieTimer = setTimeout(‘dieFromTimeout( ) ’, 60000); } // Function to close the window if the timeout occurs function dieFromTimeout( ) { // Clear the timer and close the window clearTimeout (pollingTimer); window.close ( ) } // Function to poll at 1-second intervals for the control cookie function waitForCookie( ) { // Get the value of the cookie var url = get_cookie(‘UniqueCookieNameGoesHere’); if (url) { // The cookie exists. Take action signalWithCookie (url); } else { // The cookie does not exist. Wait another second. pollingTimer = setTimeout (‘waitForCookie( ) ’, 1000); } } // Function to take action when the cookie exists. function signalWithCookie (url) { // Turn off the “timeout” timer clearTimeout (dieTimer); if (url == ‘DIE’) { // We received a signal to close the window window.close ( ) } else { // We received a signal to visit a URL. window.location = url; // Unhide (maximize) the popup window window.focus ( ) } } // Main program, using above functions prepareTermination ( ); waitForCookie( );

Notifier code 136 executes at server 130 to receive the cookie name created by maker code 132 and to create the control cookie for transmitting to client 110 along with the next page to be displayed. The control cookie is created to have the received cookie name and to have a value that is interpreted at client 110 by listener code 134 either as a URL that instructs listener code 134 to maximize window 230 and display the URL content in the window, or as a default value that instructs listener code 134 to close the window. An example of one embodiment of the notifier code in the JavaScript language is shown in Table 3. TABLE 3 Notifier Code Example © 2004 VistaPrint // Example of setting the control cookie to a URL document.cookie = ‘UniqueCookieNameGoesHere=http://www.msn.com’; // Example of setting the control cookie to a prearranged // default value to tell the popup window to close document cookie = ‘UniqueCookieNameGoesHereDlE’;

Looking at FIG. 3 in more detail, at step 302 the user of client 110 has viewed and interacted with one or more Web pages, not shown, on server 130, has selected one or more products and/or services offered by the operator of the site, and is currently viewing and interacting with billing page A by entering the required credit card and other user payment information into information area 214 provided on page A for that purpose. FIG. 2A depicts the status of display 200 at this point.

When the user has supplied the required user information in information area 214 and wishes to proceed with the purchase of the selected products or services, the user activates control 212 at step 304. The billing page A code causes user information 214, such as the user's credit card details, to be transmitted to server 130 for processing.

At step 306, billing page A runs its cookie name generation code to create a cookie name. Only the cookie name is created at this time, not the cookie itself. No particular structure or format of this cookie name is required. In the disclosed embodiment, unique cookie names are created by incorporating a timestamp into the name. The use of unique cookie names provides scalability and flexibility by supporting the use of multiple simultaneous pop-up windows, if desired, by the operator of server 130.

At steps 308 and 310, the created cookie name to be used for the control cookie is provided to server 130 and window 230 via a URL query parameter. These two steps are required only if a unique cookie name is generated as in step 306. Alternatively, if only a single pop-up window at a time is contemplated, a single standard default cookie name could be employed, known to both server 130 and the pop-up code; thus steps 308 and 310 to inform server 130 and the window code of the created name would not be required.

At step 312, pop-up window 230 is created, passed the name of the control cookie, and then minimized right away. FIG. 2B depicts the status of display 200 during the brief period after pop-up 230 has been created, but before it has been minimized. Pop-up 230 is opened and displayed over the page A content. Button 224 associated with the new window is created and displayed on task bar 220. At this point, window 230 is blank. Because window 230 is a requested pop-up opened in direct response to the user's activation of control 212, it is not affected by typical blocking programs.

Very shortly after window 230 is opened, the pop-up code minimizes window 230, resulting in the situation of FIG. 2C. From a human perception standpoint, the user may notice window 230 appear and then very quickly be minimized, but rapid window changes on Web sites are not an uncommon experience for most users and will not significantly distract from the user's experience.

As mentioned above, when the user activates control 212, the user information 214 is provided to server 130 for the required processing by server 130, which may involve forwarding some or all information to and receiving a response from one or more other servers. This process may take a few seconds to complete. The eventual behavior and control of window 230 will be determined, at least partially, by the outcome of this processing at the server. When the required processing of the user information is completed at step 314, notifier code 136 at server 130 will create a cookie, using the name supplied to the server by the cookie name generation code. In constructing the cookie, server 130 will evaluate the result of the user information processing and make a determination whether to display window 230 to this user and, if so, what content should be displayed in the window. If server 130 desires to display information in window 230, the value of the created cookie will be the URL of the desired Web page to be displayed. If server 130 detected a user error in information block 214, or the user's information was not successfully processed by server 140, or the user's transaction does not meet the criteria established by the site operator, or for any other reason the site operator does not desire to display information in window 230, the value of the created cookie will be a default value that will be interpreted by the window code at client 110 as a command to close the window. At step 318, server 130 will provide the created cookie, and the appropriate next page C, to client 110 for displaying to the user.

While the above-described actions are taking place at server 130, the pop-up code executing at client 110 is checking for the creation of the cookie that will instruct the code what action to take. After receiving the cookie name from the name generation code at step 312, the listener code 134 at steps 320 and 322 repetitively polls for the availability of a cookie having that name. In the disclosed embodiment, step 322 is performed once per second, but the frequency of polling is a design choice and could be set to occur either less or more frequently. It is possible that a processing, network, or other problem might delay or prevent the creation or delivery of the cookie, therefore, a timeout check is performed at step 320 to remove window 230 from the user's desktop in the event that the cookie is not detected after a period of time. In the disclosed embodiment, the timeout period is set at 60 seconds, but longer or shorter timeout limits could be employed. If the cookie is not detected within the 60-second period, the pop-up is closed at step 328.

If the cookie is detected at step 322 prior to the expiration of the timeout period, the value associated with the cookie is analyzed. As discussed above, if server 130 determined that it desires to display information in pop-up 230 to this user, server 130 constructed the cookie to contain the URL of the desired content. The pop-up code recognizes the cookie value as a URL and uses the URL to redirect to and display the specified page in window 230. If server 130 determined that window 230 is not needed for this user, server 130 constructed the cookie to contain a default value that is interpreted by the pop-up window code as an instruction to close the window.

FIG. 2D depicts the situation where server 130 desired to display information to the user in pop-up window 230 in addition to the content of the next page C. When value assigned to the cookie was recognized as being a URL, window 230 was maximized to become visible to the user and page D was retrieved from the specified URL and displayed in the window. Page D could have been retrieved from server 130 or from any remote server connected to network 120, such as server 150.

FIG. 2E depicts the situation where server 130 did not desire to display information to the user in pop-up window 230. In this example, this could have been because the user's credit card transaction was not successful or the user otherwise did not meet the site operator's criteria. Because window 230 was not needed for this user, server 130 created a control cookie with the default value that was interpreted by the window code as a signal to close the window.

While an illustrative embodiment has been discussed, alternate embodiments could also be employed. Therefore, the described embodiment is to be considered as illustrative rather than restrictive and the scope of the invention is as indicated in the following claims and all equivalent methods and systems. 

1. A method of operating a client computer, the method comprising opening a window on the display of the client computer in response to at least one action by the user of the client computer, minimizing the window, monitoring for the availability of a control cookie, and if the control cookie is detected, analyzing the control cookie to determine the action to take with the window.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising maximizing the window and displaying identified content in the window if the control cookie identifies content to be displayed in the window.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the control cookie identifies content to be displayed by supplying a URL.
 4. The method of claim 1 further comprising closing the window if the control cookie does not identify content to be displayed in the window.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the window is minimized substantially immediately after it is opened.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising closing the window if the control cookie is not detected within a predetermined period after the window was opened.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying a page to the user, the page having at least one area wherein the user can enter user information and, in response to the at least one user action, providing at least some of the user-entered information over a network to a server.
 8. The method of claim 1 further comprising creating a control cookie name in response to the at least one action by the user.
 9. The method of claim 8 wherein monitoring for the availability of a control cookie comprises monitoring for the availability of a cookie having the created control cookie name.
 10. The method of claim 8 further comprising providing the created control cookie name over a network to a server for use in creating a control cookie.
 11. The method of claim 8 wherein the control cookie name is created such that each cookie name created at the client computer is unique.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein the control cookie name is created such that it includes a time stamp.
 13. A computer-readable medium bearing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a client computer, implement the method of claim
 1. 14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the computer-readable medium comprises a carrier wave communicated over a network.
 15. A method of operating a server to control a minimized window at a client computer, the method comprising receiving a cookie name from the client computer, creating a control cookie having at least the received name and a value, the value serving as a notifier to the client computer of an action to be taken with the minimized window, and transmitting the control cookie to the client computer.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the value of the control cookie is a first value type if the window is to be maximized and a second value type if the window is to be closed.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the first value type is at least an identifier of content to be displayed in the maximized window.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the identifier of content to be displayed is a URL.
 19. The method of claim 15 further comprising receiving user-entered information from the client computer, and determining what action will be taken with the window based on at least some of the received user-entered information.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein determining what action will be taken includes providing at least some of the received user-entered information to one or more other servers.
 21. A computer-readable medium bearing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a server computer, implement the method of claim
 15. 22. A method of operating a server, the method comprising transmitting a page to a client computer, the page having at least code for displaying to the user of the client computer at least one control capable of being activated by the user of the client computer, and code, responsive to user activation of one or more of the at least one control, to cause the client computer to open and substantially immediately minimize a window, in response information from the client computer indicating that a window has been opened in response to user activation of one or more of the at least one control, creating a control cookie having at least a name and a value, the value serving as a notifier to the client computer of an action to be taken with the window, and transmitting the control cookie to the client computer.
 23. A computer-readable medium bearing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement the method of claim
 22. 24. A method of operating a server, the method comprising: transmitting a page to a client computer, the page having at least code for displaying to the user of the client computer at least one control capable of being activated by the user, code, responsive to user activation of one or more of the at least one control, to cause the client computer to open and substantially immediately minimize a window, create a cookie name, and provide the cookie name to the server, receiving at least the cookie name, creating a control cookie having at least the received cookie name and a value, the value serving as a notifier to the client computer of an action to be taken with the window, and transmitting the control cookie to the client computer.
 25. The method of claim 24 wherein the page further has code to monitor for and analyze the control cookie received from the server.
 26. The method of claim 25 wherein the code to monitor for and analyze the cookie includes code to close the window if the control cookie is not detected within a predetermined period of time.
 27. The method of claim 25 wherein the code to monitor for and analyze the cookie includes code to maximize the window if the control cookie has a first value type and code to close the window if the control cookie has a second value type.
 28. The method of claim 27 wherein the first value type is at least an identifier of content to be displayed in the maximized window.
 29. The method of claim 28 wherein the first value type is a URL.
 30. The method of claim 28 further comprising displaying content identified by the content identifier in the maximized window if the control cookie has a first value.
 31. A computer-readable medium bearing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by a server computer, implement the method of claim
 24. 